Jonathan Levitt

Finding the Most Accurate Measure of Website Success

This post originally published on 1to1 Media.

For the past decade online marketers have focused on a single metric, almost to the exclusion of all others: conversion. They've implemented costly Web analytics systems, spent hours optimizing the "conversion funnel" to get more people to the shopping cart, and, above all, have focused on getting as many people to complete a purchase as possible. But conversion rates among leading retailers still hover around 2 to 3 percent.

It's time to ditch the idea that conversion is the be-all and end-all of online marketing success. The fact is, not everyone comes to your site looking to buy something. Recent research shows that 84 percent of website visitors are not there to make a purchase; instead, they are looking to obtain information, compare prices, browse products, find out a store location or store hours, get product support, or simply look at pictures and watch videos. That's why the real measure of marketing success is not hard conversion, but task completion. Make no mistake about it: If your site visitors aren't able to complete the tasks they set out to do, they won't consider purchasing from you again, either online or in-store.

Let's look at the numbers. Recently iPerceptions conducted a study of 50,000 online consumers. Just 16 percent of respondents said they visit an e-commerce website with the intention of buying something; the others are there to complete other tasks.

Consequently, every e-commerce site needs to get real feedback from actual visitors to get answers to four essential questions:

What are my visitors at my website to do?
Are they completing what they set out to do?
If not, why not?
How satisfied are my visitors?

If you don't know the answers to these questions, and are spending serious money on technologies and teams to move the dial on your conversion rate, you're making a big mistake. Fundamentally, you are not optimizing your website for the other 84 percent (or 98 percent as is often the case, given a conversion rate of 2 percent) of people who come to your site to do something other than buy things. Find out what they want and then give it to them: information, price comparison, ratings and reviews, store locations, blogs and videos, etc. And then, when they come back to your site a second, third, fourth, or fifth time, continue to give them what they want—until they are finally ready to make a purchase.

The other reason online conversion alone is a poor measure of marketing success is that it doesn't take into account customer satisfaction as a driver of in-store or future purchases. But if you measure task completion, you can know with certainty whether your customers are satisfied—even those who never planned to buy something on your site. Task completion has been proven time and again to be highly predictive of visitor satisfaction.

Satisfied customers who complete their primary tasks buy more, that's a fact borne out by the recent survey responses of 10,000 online customers. Visitors who completed their primary purposes were twice as likely to make a repeat visit, while 67 percent of these "task completers" reported enhanced brand opinion (versus only 18 percent for those who did not complete their intended tasks). Additionally, 60 percent of "task completers" reported a higher future likelihood to purchase either online or offline (versus only 14 percent for those who did not).

Measuring task completion also lets you find out whether the people who are at your site to buy actually do end up buying something—which is a much more valuable metric to have than just knowing how many people end up purchasing an item. In the survey cited above, we found that only half of visitors who go to a site with a distinct intent to buy products end up completing their tasks. That means half of the visitors with a clear intent to buy walk away because sites aren't delivering what they wanted. That's a sobering number.

If you aren't focusing on finding out what tasks your visitors want to accomplish, and then delivering the tools and information they need to complete those tasks, you are missing out on countless sales opportunities. Give conversion a break, and focus on getting your task completion rates above the e-commerce industry average of 68 percent. With tons of satisfied site visitors, those conversion rates will spike after all.

Shopping Cart Crimes

(cross posted at community.4qsurvey.com)

In the case of the abandoned shopping cart vs. mankind, we all plead guilty.
We’ve all done it before, both on and offline. We’ve all left her cold and lonely in the middle of an aisle, or simply quit in the middle of an online transaction. Shame on us? Well, not really.

As it turns out, online and offline shopping cart abandonment occurs for pretty much the same reasons- long checkout processes, unclear prices, and insufficient information. The average attention span of an Internet user is about 8 seconds. This makes my 5-year-old son more focused and thus more likely to buy than the average person… bad news for my credit card!

There are so many reasons why we fill up online shopping carts without ever having the intention to purchase in the first place. For most shopping sites, it seems like the only way to add up prices of items, check shipping costs and taxes, or simply compile everything you like in one place is by adding it to the shopping cart. Once you’ve gathered whatever information you were looking for, that’s when you commit your abandonment crime.

For e-commerce websites, it has never been more important to measure intent and task completion. A simple online survey software can help you answer questions about why visitors come to your website and if they were able to accomplish what they came for. These answers will not only provide you with insight to predict future behavior, but will also allow you to pinpoint areas that require change or improvement.

Take 4Qsurvey.com. Our primary goal is the account sign-up (not transactional, but just as well). According to Google Analytics, our conversion rate has fluctuated between 3% and 4%, which would appear as though between 96% and 97% of visitors are “abandoning.” In reality, however, only 15% (on average) of our visitors are onsite to actually create an account. Everyone else is “pre-transactional.” The task completion rate for visitors who are onsite to create an account averages out at 84%. This means that the real conversion abandonment figure stands at only 16%.
Looks like marketers should stop obsessing about completed transactions and start shifting their focus to pre (and post) -transactional behavior.

Online, Offline, or Non-line Shopping?

Even though the dynamics of shopping have changed in the digital world, marketers are still playing by offline rules. The fact of the matter is, we now live in a non-line world where online and offline behaviors are very much intertwined.

Take my wife, for instance. She might visit the Sephora website to check out their new line of lipsticks, visit the store to try on some colors, and then end up buying online. With this back and forth online/offline behavior, isolating each action and measuring its success individually would not be an accurate indication of the final outcome. Therein also lies the problem of attribution (but we'll save that for another post).

If Sephora’s bottom line is a completed transaction, then it has failed in both the “browsing” and “sampling” phases. The ultimate behavior did, however, lead to a completed transaction, so how would one measure that?

Marketers must look beyond that bottom line and dig into the real reasons why someone visited their website in the first place. If most websites convert at 3%-5%, then what about the remaining 95% who aren’t buying? Who are they, why were they there, and what were they trying to do? This is where intent and task completion can provide real insight. If a visit to Sephora’s website does not result in a completed transaction, it does not necessarily imply a failure. A user’s intent might have been to browse, check prices, or locate a store. Their ability to actually complete these specific tasks is the real measure of success or failure here.

At the store, my wife was pretty much a ghost. Because no transaction took place, no one at Sephora knew who she was, what she wanted, or why she left. This is where the real advantage of having an online presence comes in. A simple online survey can answer all these questions about my wife as a consumer. More importantly, the insight from these answers can uncover strengths, weaknesses, and areas requiring improvement. No store manager can provide you with this information about a customer who just walked out. Each and every customer who walks out of the store without completing their intended task should be considered as an abandoned visitor, and marketers must consider ways to optimize this experience and convert these visitors into buyers. It is time for the offline sites to start playing by the online rules.

Customer Surveys to Dramatically Boost Conversion

This is a cross post from Practical eCommerce

As much as online retailers focus on driving visitors to the shopping cart, the reality is the majority of consumers don’t visit websites with the clear objective of making a purchase. Study after study done on real survey data has shown that over 80% of visitors to retail and e-commerce websites are not onsite to buy. Instead, they’re onsite to browse, learn, research, comparison shop, check prices, or complete a plethora of other tasks.

So in the quest to boost conversion, maybe it’s time to do something counter-intuitive: stop focusing on the shopping cart. Instead, you need to start figuring out exactly what your visitors are on your site to do, so you can deliver what they want, when they want it, and thereby nudge them down the purchase consideration funnel.

How do you find out what visitors hope to accomplish on your site? Ask them. Simple online surveys, using as little as four quick questions, are the best way to find out the real intent of your customers. No amount of behavioral analysis, click tracking, or user-generated content monitoring is going to deliver the same level of insight as pure voice of customer feedback.

What’s Your Intent?

In today’s economy, when consumers are worried about their jobs, their homes, and their credit, visitors are understandably reluctant to hit the “buy” button. Their buying cycles are longer; whereas, in the past they may have bought on their first visit to your website, now it’s taking two, three, or maybe even four visits to persuade them to part with their hard-earned cash. Using surveys to capture visitor intent will allow you to pinpoint exactly where they are in their decision making process. Are they mystified by your shipping policy? Are they hung up on features and functions? Are they worried they can get your product cheaper elsewhere? By measuring intent, you can deliver the exact information or service visitors are looking for at that time, which means that they will be much more likely to come back to your site or visit one of your stores to complete a purchase.

To clearly understand visitor intent, online retailers really only need to ask visitors one main question: “What is the purpose of your visit today?” You can offer answer choices such as: browse product information, compare prices, look up a store location, get a customer service phone number, or read customer product reviews.

Once you’ve successfully identified visitor intent, you can take it one step further by asking: “Were you or were you not able to complete that task?” and “Tell us why”. These are the main questions used by thousands of online companies who use our free 4Q survey, which takes two minutes to install and starts yielding meaningful insights right away. Or, you can build out a custom survey to ask your customers simple, pointed questions that give you answers to pressing customer engagement and retention questions. For example, you can ask them why they abandoned their shopping carts and you can drill down into reasons for abandonment by product line or demographic segment. What’s more, you can use surveys to ask visitors about their multichannel interactions with your company. Did they visit a store before making their online purchase? Would they prefer to complete their purchase in a local store? Ask them!

Surprising Results

During a recent site redesign, Colin Campbell, founder of Lavish & Lime, a retailer of eco-friendly and natural products, wanted to find out with precision what his customers wanted, so he could build a site that met their needs. The retailer used the free 4Q survey to query visitors about why they came to the site and whether or not they achieved their objectives. When consumers said they were not able to accomplish their goals, the survey asked why. The feedback collected from that one open-ended question helped Campbell understand his customers better than ever before, and to create a new site based on those preferences.

Many of the things people wanted to find out on the site but were unable to were things Campbell never realized were important to his customers. Environmentally-conscious shoppers who came to the site, for example, wanted to find information on the manufacturing principles associated with certain products, such as whether they contained the chemical compound Bisphenol A, or BPA. Lavish & Lime was able to design their new site with these specific customer requests in mind, and already, the new site has achieved impressive conversion results.

Beyond Measuring Conversion

Online retailers get so hung up on conversion that they fail to measure the impact of all the brand interactions that lead up to the buying event. While surveys can do a great job in telling you why buyers abandoned the shopping cart, most of your visitors are not actually onsite to buy. Obsessing about conversion means that you will be turning a dangerously blind eye to all the pre-buying tasks that your visitors are setting out to accomplish.

Rather than making assumptions about why your visitors are onsite, use survey-powered metrics like visitor intent and task completion to find out for sure. Then you can optimize your website for every stage in the buying cycle, from product descriptions all the way through to the shopping cart. There is simply no better way to find out where the purchase process is breaking down, and how to fix it.

Task Completion: Start Here

I was recently asked by an enterprise client to put something on paper (that he could send to his boss) on the importance of task completion as a base metric for the analytical process.
Why do you guys see it as the (as I often say) prequel to measuring site efficiency?

iPerceptions’ voice of customer solutions begin with a fundamental understanding of visitor intent. To date, conversion has been the most ubiquitous web analytics metric, but it has distorted the analytics picture by assuming that all visitors are onsite to fulfill transactional tasks. This is simply not the case, as a recent analysis showed that over 80% of visitors log onto websites to fulfill non-transactional tasks.

While you have a desired list of outcomes for your website, your visitors have their own distinct set of tasks that they are looking to accomplish. Matching intent to outcomes is the holy grail of online marketing, and measuring visitor task completion will provide you with concrete evidence of how efficiently your site is bridging this divide. Task completion ties back to hard actions taken by visitors and forms the basis of true site accountability. While respondents can be more forgiving when reporting their satisfaction with a website or their loyalty patterns, when they are asked about task completion, it's a cut-and-dry equation--they either completed their tasks or they didn't.

In a time of unprecedented economic upheaval, where growth in all channels—online included—is abating and consumer confidence is sinking, it is crucial to know which metrics link back directly to healthy business outcomes, and which tie directly to behavior. A recent iPerceptions study of over 100,000 respondents to online retail websites demonstrated the significant benefits that task completion improvement can yield to website operators. 67% of visitors who completed their primary tasks reported enhanced brand opinion (vs. only 18% for those who do not). Additionally, 60% of visitors who completed their tasks reported a higher future likelihood to purchase either online or offline (vs. only 14% for those who do not).

By focusing on visitor intent and leveraging iPerceptions’ powerful diagnostic tools and analytical support, you will be tapping into a research approach that has consistently yielded proven online conversion and customer retention uplift, as well as sizable operating cost reductions.

4Q Survey Call for Videos

Got a video camera and some 4Q Survey success stories to share? We want to hear from you (see you). Take 30 seconds and send us your mug! Don't be shy...clearly you can see from the below that to err is human.

My mothers comments: "What's with the beard?"

Measuring beyond the click with John Marshall

John Marshall is the CTO / Founder of Market Motive. He is formerly the CEO and Founder of web-analytics-success story ClickTracks Analytics, John is Market Motive's visionary for curriculum, teaching and technical strategy. A Netscape alumnus responsible for several other successful software companies, John Marshall brings 20 years of experience in the software industry to Market Motive. John now regularly speaks on the topic of web analytics, conversion techniques and marketing.

A little bit about Market Motive:

The team at Market Motive teaches internet marketing, from the basics to the bleeding edge, through online video, weekly webinars, conference calls and anytime-Q&A with the top minds in Internet marketing:

* Bryan Eisenberg on conversion optimization
* Greg Jarboe on online publicity
* Dr. Alan Rimm-Kaufman on paid search / PPC
* Matt Bailey on social media, site usability & architecture
* Avinash Kaushik & John Marshall on web analytics
* Todd Malicoat on SEO
* Jessica Bowman on SEO processes (associate instructor)
* Mary Huffman and Mark Evans on PPC (associate instructors)

In this video with Ralph Wilson of Web Marketing Today, John explains three approaches to find out what a site visitor does after clicking to your site -- information that Google Analytics can't tell you. John was interviewed at PubCon in Las Vegas in November 2008.

John: Thanks for the shout out!

The new metrics that really matter in e-commerce

eCommerce is a fundamentally data-driven channel, and the boom in online sales has resulted in terabytes of data covering all aspects of online customer behavior. But without a context for determining what these clicks mean, most online marketers are still no closer to truly understanding their customers than they were back in the days of server log parsing. The result is that most online marketing decisions are ultimately still based on incomplete information and speculation, instead of on a real grasp of customer needs and goals.

Don’t get me wrong. There are reams of useful data out there, being pumped out by web analytics vendors, ad servers, or online audience measurement firms. But all of these approaches conceal fundamental flaws: they do not account for real feedback from actual visitors in self-initiated situations. Page views, time on site, hard conversion rates—all of these are useful metrics in an e-commerce environment, but they fall painfully short of exposing the hearts and minds of real visitors.

So, is there a better way forward than dry, impersonal metrics? Happily, there is. Surveying real visitors to understand primary intent and to measure task completion is a great place to start. Not all visitors are onsite for the same reason; segment them by purpose to find out how well your site is catering to each distinct visitor need, and use verbatim pain points to help you fix critical problems standing in the way of successful visits and higher revenue.

Remember, however, that not all useful site outcomes, even in an e-commerce channel, can be measured in terms of dollars and cents. Although the current financial crisis has put added emphasis on engendering ROI in the here and now, shepherding visitors to the completion of their tasks can have a valuable impact on your long-term brand proposition.

In a recent iPerceptions study of more than 10,000 real online customers, visitors who completed their primary purposes were twice as likely to make a repeat visit, while 67% of visitors who completed their primary purposes reported enhanced brand opinion (vs. only 18% for those who did not). Additionally, 60% reported a higher future likelihood to purchase either online or offline (vs. only 14% for those who did not).

In today’s recessionary climate, businesses on the hunt for more revenue from their e-commerce channel can’t afford to pass up these critical insights on their customers. Visitor intent, task completion, and open-ended insights can be wonderful allies in the battle to understand your visitors.

This article appeared in the 2008 DMNews Essential Guide to E-Commerce

View my page on The 4Q Community

iPerceptions is Hiring

Democratizing the voice of the customer takes guts. Really listening to your customers means getting your hands dirty. It means acknowledging that, despite your most cherished pre-conceptions, a website exists for one reason and one reason alone: to satisfy visitors. If it's not succeeding in doing that, then it has to change.

The web is packed with insights. At iPerceptions, we're shaking things up, rattling the bars that have until now limited the conversation about online customers to a few simple metrics like page views and time on site. We're making sure the human voice is heard loud and clear.

To do this, we need people who are bold, edgy, and dynamic. People who are willing to upset the status quo in the name of the customer. Our clients rely on us to act as conduits for the hopes and frustrations of their visitors. We have a responsibility to be honest, to push them to optimize and improve, and to strive for customer-centricity at every step. It's a critical, yet exciting, responsibility.

If any of this means anything to you, then contact us.

American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) and American Finance

Maybe this is piling on; maybe it’s in poor taste given the world we live in. I don’t know. But I will present you with these two graphs and let you draw your own conclusions. The first is the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) trend line for 4 titans of American finance; the second is their stock performance in the year to date (this blog was written a little while ago - at the time, i decided not to post it, but now I have changed my mind). Note how rock solid and stable the customer satisfaction scores were for these four companies since 2004.

Let this be a lesson to those who pontificate about how customer satisfaction can predict the future, for the market can play very cruel tricks, even on the soundest of companies.

Wine and Geez!

I don't normally do this (call out a particular brand), but as hard as I tried, I could not let this case of having absolutely no clue go.

I recently needed to buy a customer a gift. I decided to send a basket of wine and cheese. Simple, easy and as far as I am concerned, the perfect way to say 'thank you'...

I don't want to get into a whole diatribe on the importance of understanding visitor intent on your website, but as most of you know, I firmly believe that any site putting its own objectives before the intent (purpose of visit) of actual visitors is going to die a slow (maybe) and painful death (certainly).

This blog post speaks for itself. This is the screen I was greeted with when I arrived at wine.com. Try it for yourself. There is no way to bypass this window. Two takeaways here for me: 1) Imagine how skewed the data collected by wine.com must be, and 2) do you really think that everyone on your website is there to ship something?

The other thing that speaks for itself, is the content of the 4Q Survey homepage. I suggest the good folks at wine.com check it out:

Your visitors can be your best friends or your worst enemies. By listening directly to them, you can understand what works, what doesn’t and what it takes to give them the best possible website experience.

To do this right, you need to ask the four most important survey questions:

* What are my visitors at my website to do? (HELLOOOOOO)
* Are they completing what they set out to do?
* If not, why not?
* How satisfied are my visitors?

Geez!

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the author and not those of iPerceptions' or its related companies. I also want to point out that prior to posting this blog, I tried to contact wine.com on twitter - but to no avail.

Love is in the air at the Emetrics Marketing Optimization Summit

As we head into day three of the Emetrics Marketing Optimization Summit in Washington DC, I find myself up late, unable to sleep (nothing new there), and reflecting on the past few days. One thing for sure, the conference is changing, as is the industry, the medium, and the overall sentiment of what tools Marketers need in order to truly optimize their online channel. Three years ago, this conference was extremely ‘click-stream’ centric. Today, it’s a mixed bag of solutions that are all entirely focused on one overall objective…improving the customer experience. In Jim Sterne’s keynote to kick off the conference, he focused almost entirely on the importance of the customer experience – no argument here obviously. Its nice to see that our gospel over the years wasn’t all for not.
On the theme of being evangelical, I’ve met several handfuls of people who are using 4Q and wanting to share their stories. One in particular that has created some buzz, is coming from Comcast Business Services. See Bryan Eisenberg’s post on Grok.
Have a story of your own to share with us? We’d love to hear it.

Web wide task completion. Where do you stack up?

Following up on Michael Whitehouse’s post last week’s about how the American financial crisis is negatively affecting task completion on the websites of financial service providers, we’re unveiling Q3 task completion scores for all the other major verticals represented in the 4Q family of users.

- Entertainment websites lead the way, with a task completion score that leads the pack by 8 points.
- Task completion is three points above the average on automotive sites. Good news for car manufacturers at a time when gas prices are still at historical highs and North American vehicle sales are slumping.
- Hospitality sites are feeling the pinch generating by the credit crunch, fear about job security, and high commodity prices. For a lot of people, anxiety about the future is mitigating the desire to travel and those who do are increasingly shopping for steep discounts.
- Cost sensitivity and lack of economic confidence are also playing a role in the lower-than-average task completion scores for Retail and Consumer Electronics. These will be the bellwethers to watch in the lead-up to the holiday season. Last week, the NRF forecasted that 2008 holiday season sales would rise 2.2%, far below the 10-year average lift of 4.4%. The challenges facing multi-channel and online retailers will only be exacerbated by low task completion.
- The Web Analytics industry clocked in with the fourth lowest score. C’mon guys and gals, we play in traffic for a living and are swimming in metrics...we’re supposed to know what makes our visitors tick. We can do better than this!

So, how does your site stack up against your industry? Let us know by commenting on the blog or posting your stories in the 4Q Community Forum. If you aren't measuring task completion, then sign up now for 4Q at www.4qsurvey.com. This metric is a crucial measurement and beginning to play an increasingly important role in website optimization. It cost you nothing to capture. Bigger question..what does it cost you not to?

Visitor Intent – What’s your guess?

This e-mail was waiting in my inbox bright and early when I came back from vacation last week:

Dear Jonathan,

I love 4Q! I think it’s such an easy way to start the conversation about measuring site effectiveness, and it’s a great way to challenge some dearly-held assumptions at the HIPPO level.

I only have one problem. When I look at my “purposes of visit,” I’m seeing that 70% are selecting other. This has got to be a mistake! I had my user experience team spend two weeks to come up with the list of purposes of visit. There’s no way our brightest minds can’t identify what 7/10ths of our visitors are onsite to do!

Help!

Best,

In Love with 4Q

(Ok, that’s not her real name, but we had to redact it to protect the innocent!)

I was stunned at first. Was 4Q broken? Was there something wrong with the database? First, we checked the technology. Scripts in place across the site? Check. Answer tags rendering properly on the survey screen? Check.

Then, we checked the database. Maybe records were getting deleted by mistake, and the “others” were being over-represented in the reporting tools. So, we watched the responses as they came in, but everything looked sound. Not only were visitors opting to select “other” at an amazing rate, they were actually being quite verbose when asked to write in their exact purposes…and the reality, is that these bright minds on the user experience team who had determined the purpose of visit tags for this particular survey, had no clue why people were coming to the site. They apparently couldn’t even guess.

Understanding visitor intent is critical to establishing site goals. Let me put this another way: if I don’t know why people are on my website, then how can I determine if my site’s doing a good job? I can follow the metrics I think are important, but without the user-sourced data, I’m simply projecting my own biases. And if web analytics has taught us one thing, it’s that the days of assumption and conjecture have passed us by.

To that end, we’ll shortly be taking our own medicine and running a 4Q survey on the 4Q site. And we’ll be transparent enough to tell you if 70% of our visitors reject our pre-define buckets and opt to speak for themselves!

4Q now captures voice of customer in 16 languages

We have some exciting news!

4Q is just about ready to go global! We've completed our first round of survey interface translations into 15 new languages, which are:

Canadian French
European French
Latin American Spanish
European Spanish
European Portuguese
German
Dutch
Danish
Swedish
Norwegian
Italian
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Japanese
Korean

For now, as you may have noticed, the actual 4Q site is available in English, French and Spanish. We will be adding new languages to the site itself, but the survey interface is already set to go in the languages listed above. At any one time, you'll be able to run your 4Q survey in 6 of any of the above languages.

Not only have we rolled out the survey translations, but we have a couple of highly-requested product updates to announce as well.

First, we've rolled out the ability to create an unlimited number of surveys and manage them all within your one account. Second, you can now adjust your purpose of visit selections (found in question 2) for surveys you've already submitted and may already be live with.

We’re announcing these developments on our forum and blog first so we can get as much feedback as possible from our existing and engaged 4Q users. If you notice any oddities or errors in our translations, PLEASE let us know at 4Q@iperceptions.com.
Once you’ve taken a close look at these translations and provided us with feedback, we’ll roll them out publicly.

If you have any questions at all about the new languages or features, don't hesitate to reach out at 4Q@iperceptions.com.

Now, get your multi-language surveys up and let's work together to take 4Q global!

How transparent can you be?

The Internet, and more recently the explosion of the Web 2.0 phenomenon, has inverted the social physics of information. Power comes not from your Rolodex anymore, but from how many bloggers link to you...and the paradigm shift is expanding....The new breed of naked companies also discovers that once people are interested in you, they're interested in helping you out - by offering ideas, critiques, and extra brain cycles. Customers have become working partners.

In a recent sales meeting, one of our business development reps raised the concern that in our online survey at iperceptions.com, we ask visitors how familiar they are with our competitors, and we ask them to rank some of the obvious similarities and differences in both the companies as well as the comparing online experiences.

To a marketing guy like me, this is valuable for two reasons; one, the competitive information is priceless. I am able to gauge market awareness of competing solutions as well as improve the areas of weaknesses, and emphasize the areas of strengths when it comes to recognition of brand values and value propositions. The second, is that it helps iPerceptions spread the message that we are an ‘open’ company.

Winning business is important, and in the end, points on the board are everything, but perhaps almost as important is to build awareness. I just want companies to be aware of what tools are available to them, and I want them to be listening to the voice of customer. I am less concerned about with whom they get involved from a vendor perspective. I believe prospects will do their own due diligence and choose the vendor that fits their objectives, culture, needs, etc…in the end, the better solution will rise to the top of a quickly maturing market.

I tried to explain to the team that we want the business that wants us. We want to encourage prospects to look at the competition. We want to be forthcoming, honest, and sincere, and we want to win the business on the merits of our solution, service and value.

To a sales guy, this is an extremely threatening concept. How can you point potential clients to the competition? Isn’t that just stupid?

We were recently in a competitive situation with a fairly large prospect (now client). After an intensive selection process, we were awarded the business, and our VP Sales placed the usual call to the decision maker to find out why (we always want to know why we were or were not given business when it comes to a competitive bid).

The gist of his response was this: “Both solutions met our needs. They were close in price and the decision was not an easy one to make…at first. But your competitors spent 20% of the time pitching the value of their own solution, and 80% of the time putting yours down. It was a turn off, and spoke to their integrity…”

Clearly, the open and honest approach works. Be nice, have integrity and be forthcoming, and may the most transparent company win.

What is the purpose of your visit today?

We all know how crucial it is to understand the primary reasons why people are coming to your website. It has been argued that a firm understanding of 'Purpose of Visit' and 'Task Completion' are the fundamental building blocks to a succesful web analytics strategy. It is for this very reason that we have put 4Q into the market, as a way to deliver the voice of the customer to website owners and operators of all shapes and sizes.
We also know that all websites, and more importantly all website visitors have different reasons for existing online.

We'd like to expand our Purpose of Visit options on the 4Q survey (survey question 2: "Which of the following best describes the primary purpose of your visit?"). At the moment, the options are:

Buy
Check for product updates
Check friend updates
Check messages
Check my account
Check news
Check order status
Check profile
Check promotions
Compare prices
Compare products
Create an account
Download materials
Download software
Find contact information
Find store locations
Learn about products
Listen to music
Look at pictures
Obtain company information
Post blog comment
Read
Research
Search for friends
Seek technical support
Subscribe to RSS
Update account information
Update profile
View profile(s)
View/share widget(s)
Watch videos

We've already received some great suggestions on our forum and in e-mails we've received from the user base. We'd like to pull these together into a master thread on our forum and include the new choices as part of the next wave of survey upgrades. The thread can be found here (if you're not already a forum member, you'll need to join first in order to be able to post):

Please jump in and reply with your suggestions. We'd just ask that you keep in mind that we're always trying to strike a delicate balance between choices that are relevant to your website and choices that are common enough that they can be rolled up and aggregated for industry-level reporting.

iPerceptions to sponsor Forrester's Marketing Forum 2008

If you happen to be in the Los Angeles area next week, join iPerceptions from April 8-9 for Forrester's Marketing Forum 2008, where industry executives and Forrester analysts will provide insights on how marketers can get the most out of emerging marketing practices. Topics covered include: Segmentation strategies, Brand experiences, Personas, Social technologies, Word-of-mouth marketing and more.

More than 500 marketing professionals in Customer Experience, Direct Marketing, Market Research, Product Management, Interactive Marketing, and Marketing Leadership roles will be in attendance.

Looking forward to seeing you there. iPerceptions will be at booth #1, come by and see us to learn more about our company, our webValidator Continuous Listening Solution for voice of customer analytics, and our brand new initiative developed in collaboration with Avinash Kaushik, called 4Q (a free and simple survey solution).

Visit the Marketing Forum 2008 Web site for agenda details, the Event brochure, and venue information.

eMetrics Toronto- iPerceptions to attend in big numbers

A bunch of us are piling into the iPerceptions jet and heading to Toronto next Monday! We'll be attending in large numbers and with as much team spirit as we can muster. The eMetrics Summits are truly our thing – they are the perfect chance to educate an engaged audience on the importance voice of customer analytics.

With keynotes such as Jim Sterne (founder of the Web Analytics Association), Andrew Sloss of eBay Canada, and Seth Romanow of Microsoft, Toronto’s event promises to be a must-attend for Canadian web practitioners, marketing managers, and any other business executives interested in improving their customers’ experiences.

We’ll be at booth #16 at the Toronto Marriott Downtown Eaton Centre Hotel – if you still haven’t registered for the event but would like to attend, contact us and we’ll set you up with a 10% discount.

Call for Translations:

We've had an overwhelming outreach of 4Q users who are volunteering to lend a hand on the translations needed to deploy 4Q in 20 + Languages.

We've decided to turn this initiative over to the 4Q community. If you are interested in helping us with this massive undertaking, please send an email to 4q at iperceptions dot com with the list of languages in which you would feel comfortable translating (or lending a hand). Your participation in this endeavour will be greatly appreciated, not just by iPerceptions, but by all customer-centric site owners across the world.

Please be sure to include in the subject line of your email: "I want to translate 4Q"
Thanks in advance for helping make 4Q a Global success.

The additional languages we are looking to provide are:

Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese
Spanish – European
Spanish – Latin American
Japanese
French – Quebec
French - European
German
Portuguese
Korean
Italian
Finnish
Turkish
Swedish
Dutch
Russian
Hindi
Danish
Norwegian

If there are languages that you would like to translate that are not listed above - please contact us.

4Q is an Avinash Kaushik and iPerceptions Collaboration

4Q: A free and simple survey solution. An Avinash Kaushik and iPerceptions Collaboration

Today marks a watershed moment in the history of iPerceptions. I’m extremely excited to announce to you that we’ve partnered with web analytics expert Avinash Kaushik to roll-out the 4Q online survey application. 4Q is a powerful and completely free survey solution that promises to redefine and reinvigorate web analytics.

4Q marries Avinash’s 3 greatest survey questions with iPerceptions’ proven, best-of-breed approach to capturing the voices of real online customers. In deploying 4Q, we are putting forward an open and transparent standard for measuring the human voices behind the searches, clicks, and conversions. We are capturing intent, task completion, and customer satisfaction, and we are providing full visibility into the collected data with an intuitive and responsive set of online reporting tools.

To reinforce just how easily and quickly site owners can start using 4Q to tune into customer insights, we will be streaming an instructional video on YouTube, where Avinash will setup 4Q and demonstrate just how easy it is to use. Additionally, you can see the video below (Avinash has a 25 minute extended version on Occam's Razor)

The world is ready for 4Q. Web 2.0 technologies have irrevocably changed the internet; users have grabbed the spotlight and they will never relinquish it. Along with Avinash, we’ve taken this leap of faith because we believe in the fundamental power of surveys and in the intrinsic right of all site owners to have an open dialog with their customers.

We also believe that, in developing a free solution, we are riding the wave of a paradigm shift in the way online services are being delivered. As Chris Anderson of Wired Magazine has written, the “generation raised on the free Web is coming of age.” Through the services delivered by Google, Wikipedia, and others, we have all become acclimated to this new delivery model. Years ago, it was famously stated that information wants to be free. We are proud to say that this dream is finally being realized for this iteration of voice of customer analytics.

Over to you now, get to know satisfaction.

The customer is always right

I took my three year old son Lucas to McDonalds this weekend. I’m not a fan of feeding my kids fast food, but in those desperate times (and other parents know what I’m talking about here), a happy meal can go a long way.
After ordering our lunch, the cashier returned my change short ten dollars. I politely told her that I had given her a twenty dollar bill, and that she gave me back the incorrect change.
“No sir, I did not…you gave me a ten”. I was pretty sure she was wrong – I had just come from the ATM which only disburses twenty dollar bills, and corrected her again. “No, I only had twenty dollar bills in my wallet…you must have made a mistake”.
“No Sir, the mistake is yours, please step aside”. (I don’t take well to being told to step aside – it’s like telling me to relax when I’m not). So...I asked to speak to the manager.
The manager came forward – I began to explain the story. Half way through, my son piped in.
“Dude (he calls everyone dude – I call him dude)…my daddy is the customer, and the customer is always right”.
We all laughed.
Sitting at our table over a happy meal and a salad, I asked my son where he learned that.
“The Backyardigans Daddy”.
I’m not sure what amazed me more – his ability to contextualize this learning the way he had, or the fact that at the age of three years old, my child was learning about customer satisfaction. I sought out the clip he referenced. I think in an anecdotal way, it speaks to the fact that companies are in big trouble…our youth are empowered! Clearly, a moment of pride.
Naturally, I got my ten dollars back.

How would you define Web 2.0?

My older sister recently created a Facebook account. It was a big move for her, as her experience online is limited to basic browsing and checking email. Suffice it to say that she is not very technical or web savvy.

I noticed yesterday that she changed her status on Facebook to read: Helena Levitt is hoping people will come see the play Kindly Keep It Covered with Lakeshore Players opening February 6th!! (She’s an actor).

I was quite proud of her and sent her the following message: I am so proud of you! You might not know it, but you just leveraged Web 2.0 and social networking. Very cutting edge of you.

Her response: Huh?

I then tried to explain to her what Web 2.0 was. Not easy. Especially difficult, because before you can explain Web 2.0, you first need to make sure the person you are explaining it to understands Web 1.0.

My explanation went something like this (remember I’m trying to strip it down to the core for the sake of laymen digestion):

Web 2.0 is the next generation of the internet. It’s a movement away from the web being a one way dialog of brand to consumer (through the use of a ‘website’). It is the evolution towards a medium whereby consumers can ‘share’ and ‘publish’ content, and build brands within the context of dialog with one another through a variety of online applications (such as social-networking sites, wikis, blogs, and folksonomies).

Her response: Huh?

I tried again…and again….I tried several times. I then realized I couldn’t do it. I could not put forward an easy to understand, comprehensive explanation of what was Web 2.0.

So…the question is…how would you define Web 2.0 to a laymen?

Coca-Cola, Ford and AT&T are back again

According to a recent article in Adweek, American Idol sponsors (Coke, Ford and AT&T) are back again to spend big bucks on what has become America’s most watched television show….and its going to cost them big time (is this a double entendre?).

These power brands are going to be shelling out over 35 Million a piece for a combination of in show product placement, ad spots to air during the episodes, and co-branded off air marketing programs. The price tag is up this year from last year ($30 Million for the 2007 season), and the brands anticipate an even bigger return on investment due to the hypothesis that the writers strike is going to fuel consumption of the non original scripted programs.

But…according to TV Week, Idol’s seventh season saw a major dip in ratings (in fact the lowest ratings in four years). I will admit that the show is still a titan, but what does it say for American Idol that ratings are down from last year, and this year, they aren’t competing with a very compelling line up of programming options?

Its too early in the season to make a prediction.
Stay tuned….or not.

Binaries and borders

A couple of weeks ago, I was sitting in on a deep dive analysis presentation that one of our senior analysts was giving to a high-value client. I’m not really a hardcore numbers guy, so when the analyst starts parsing satisfaction data for very specific customer segments, I’m sometimes prone to taking a peak at the Blackberry and letting my attention move away from the presentation (slightly and momentarily).

But then I heard the word “Iraq” and my head snapped up. The analyst was reviewing some open-ended comments that pertained to why certain visitors didn’t complete a purchase during their online session. The verbatim comment in question was from a parent whose son was shipping off to the Middle East, and it ran something like: “I’m looking for an affordable laptop for my son, who’s leaving for Iraq next month, but I was unable to find anything within my budget range.”

Powerful words, huh? Think about how we usually analyze conversion data. Yes and no. Simple binaries. We have that 2% that converts online and that 98% that doesn’t. And what does that 98% constitute? Unrealized opportunity? Virgin territory ripe for harvesting?

Actually, it constitutes real people, operating within the strictures of real-world circumstances. Sometimes, cart abandonment means that the user can afford college tuition for their kids or a new computer, but not both.

Therein lies the burden of survey research. It’s not always clean and pristine numbers; sometimes…it gets messy. You actually get your hands dirty, because you’re drawing on the raw, and sometimes emotional, verbatim output of why visitors didn’t buy.

Like I said, I’m more right brain than I am left, but I do know that clickstream analysts have got it easier. Pull the data for cart abandonment, slice by frequency of visit, referrer, product line—then, power down your machine and head home. The survey research analyst is the one who has to wade through the tricky morass of visitor frustration, of dashed hopes, and of foregone needs, and then put distance between themselves and the stream of commentary in order to provide objective insight.

But I guess it’s an added motivator. When it comes to making recommendations to clients, you’re advocating on behalf of people, rather than numbers.

Let there be light

Last Friday, iPerceptions held its first Advisory Council meeting in Montreal with our management team, and newly formed advisory council comprised of such notables as Avinash Kaushik, Bryan Eisenberg, Mitch Joel, Alex Lowy, Nick Coutts and Dr. Antonio Ciampi. Aside from some very poignant discussions around our strategic direction, and the web analytics market in general, we discussed everything from social media to convergence to corporate responsibility to building value based brands, and everything in between. It was a truly enlightening day.

It’s no accident that we brought these great minds together. In forming our Advisory Council, we looked for true thought leaders in their respective fields whose individual experiences would add value and insight. Each contributed to the discussion by adding their personal and professional perspective on the medium, the market and the role that iPerceptions plays in democratizing the voice of the online customer.

It made me think of an article I read by Jack Welsh in The Wall Street Journal just prior to the election in 2004.

Jack Welsh said: “Every time we had a crisis at GE, I would quickly assemble a group of the smartest, gutsiest people I could find at any level from within the company and sometimes without, and lean on them heavily for their knowledge and advice. I would make sure everyone in the room came at the problem from a different angle, and then I would have us all wallow in the information as we worked to solve the crisis. These sessions were almost always contentious, and the opinions that came at me strong and varied. And yet, my best decisions arose from what I learned in these debates. Disagreement surfaced meaningful questions and forced us to challenge assumptions. Everyone came out of the experience more informed and better prepared to take on the next crisis.”

Business is great. Successful companies are the engine of a healthy society and nothing short of the foundation of a free and democratic world. The minds that we surround ourselves with in business is a key element of success. Based on the brain power present at our Advisory Council meeting, I would say success is ours to lose.
After all…we are in the business of listening. Aren’t we all? Shouldn’t we all be?

…Ad speaking of listening…be sure to check out Episode #71 of Six Pixels of Separation - The Twist Image Podcast where Mitch Joel speaks with Bryan Eisenberg and Avinash Kaushik.

Optimost - Optimization Summit

iPerceptions is excited to announce that we will be an exhibiting sponsor at The Optimization Summit, presented by Optimost, coming up on October 3rd in San Francisco. We're very enthusiastic about this opportunity to partner with Optimost, as the Summit promises to be tremendously insightful and features a lineup of dynamic speakers, including Anne Holland, President and Publisher of Marketing Sherpa, who will be delivering the keynote address. Leveraging multivariable testing allows marketers to quickly understand which website content strategies are most conducive to driving ROI. Additionally, a more holistic picture emerges when these insights are combined with the real voice of the customer. Capturing and listening to real online visitors adds continuous context and feedback to any site changes being made, and it helps to significantly speed up the optimization schedule.

Through a series of presentations, panels, and discussions, the Summit will enable participants to develop a clear understanding of multivariable optimization processes, with the goal of converting more web visitors into customers and maximizing the ROI of their online marketing initiatives. Participants will also hear various optimization success stories and will be presented with a blueprint for making optimization a part of their DNA.

Most importantly, the Summit will provide participants with a chance to meet and network with other marketers, website managers, and product managers, as well as some of the leading minds in the field.

It all points to a great session, and we're thrilled to be a part of it. For more information, please visit http://www.optimizationsummit.com.

Thoughts on shop.org

This industry, still skyrocketing with a growth rate of over 20%, has grown up around us…has grown with us. The Shop.org Annual Summit brings us together to relate learnings, to discuss trends, and, most of all, to share the intimate knowledge that has brought us so far in such a short time and will lead us into a very bright future.

This year's Shop.org Annual Summit, taking place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, NV, is the premier gathering of online and multichannel retailers and Shop.org's most important event. Featuring keynotes from the most exciting speakers in the industry, sessions for intermediate and advanced retailers, and unparalleled networking, this must-attend event will put you in touch with the people in the industry that you need to know.

If you weren’t here this year, and are looking for the biggest event in the multi-chanel retail space, this is the show not to miss.

iPerceptions had (has – the show is still in full swing) a booth at the event, and when I wasn’t being a ‘vendor’ (hate the term – but it is what it is), I had the pleasure of taking in some impressive speakers at this years show. To name a few; Kelly Mooney - Resource Interactive (iCitizen…iConcur), Jeremy Dalnes, Vice President of E-Business at Panasonic North America - Lauren Freedman, President, e-Tailing Group - Susan Gelinger, Divisional Internet Manager, JCPenney - Dylan Lewis, Senior Manager, Web Analytics, Intuit TurboTax (Intuit Inc.) Sean McDonald, Director, Global Online Community, Dell Inc. - Eric Peterson, CEO and Principal Consultant, Web Analytics Demystified and Elaine Wu, Manager, Internet Marketing Victoria's Secret. All have impressive insights into this space and a whole lot of knowledge to share.

Joseph Pratt, Analyst for IC Media Direct has some interesting thoughts on the space (to which I am in complete agreeement). Retailers know better than anyone how much money consumers are spending over the Internet. They are realizing profits in their respective fields. They also recognize a maturation process, and that the net number of new e-commerce customers will tail off to non-growth levels. Some estimates predict this flat lining by 2010.

However, there is still important growth with maturity – and that growth is in the average amount of money spent per online customer. Instead of trying to grab new customers, retailers are bending over backwards to retain existing customers. This is the value play. Existing customers are being cultivated. The retailer, be it Nordstrom’s or Wal-Mart, wants the customer feeling at home and free of anxiety within their website.

Instead of trying to be all things to all people online, online retailing efforts of late are geared towards complementing their “brick and mortar” locations. By complement, I mean soaking up as much nitty-gritty merchandising as possible – and letting store locations double as entertainment or advertising hubs. In order to do this, though, the website must be a comfortable zone for shoppers. There is an overarching value being placed on the online customer today because online loyalty equals retail gold. Profit margins of today remain important as ever, but a future where today’s loyalty means increased spending tomorrow, is truly precious.

Online retailing has evolved. The Internet has gone from a cheap place of doing business to a venue where a premium is placed on customers.

Real customer satisfaction cannot be measured by "un-real" customers

I've been reading a lot lately about the results of a satisfaction study conducted of the top search engines - and how Google took second fiddle to Yahoo this year.

This is a bold statement. But who's making it? Knowing enough about our industry, I'm confident enough to say that it isn't real visitors to the sites of these two online megaliths (by real visitors, I am referring to people who are on the site, at their own free will, and being asked to provide feedback within the context of a real experience). Perhaps the figures were derived from panel research or offline interviews. While there is nothing wrong with this - they are effective forms of research and certainly have their place - one thing is for certain, they do not provide a true measurement of the actual voice of customer.

Why not? Simple.

Participants in these research vehicles are not real customers within a real experience. Theirs does not reflect a spontaneous and unscripted experience, and therefore cannot be substituted for real people trying to accomplish a real purpose of visit. As Duff Anderson (Vice President Research and Development at iPerceptions) pointed out in a previous post, our research shows that the way task-based or scripted visitors rate satisfaction is not the same as the way actual customers in real situations rate it. What is important to them and how satisfied they are is very different.

Here's an interesting analogy. NEC has decided to start wiring its labs with high-tech surveillance equipment to snatch up water-cooler talk and break-room chit chat, in the hopes that the real nuggets of brilliance will emerge when its employees are speaking in an unguarded fashion. The reasoning is clear: when you compel someone to furnish an answer in an uncomfortable setting, the truth will often be distorted. However, when you allow someone to speak in the context of a spontaneous experience, real insight emerges.

It is easy to understand, therefore, why these much-publicized Google/Yahoo findings struggle to align with the latest comScore numbers. If Google has really been "resting on its laurels" over the past year, then why does comScore's data show that Google' share of searches has actually grown from 46% in July 2006 to 55% in July 2007? More and more searchers are flocking to Google, with most of the growth coming at the expense of Yahoo. The disparity in stock performance between Google and Yahoo has also been widely-documented.

It's certainly an eye-opener.

The Internet has allowed us to dialog with consumers in the context of their real experiences. For the first time, people can speak for themselves. I believe that the Google/Yahoo results would look quite different if these were real people in the context of a real experience.

Marketing inside out

True marketing begins inside and builds its way outwards. I have often argued that brands don’t exist on store shelves or in product packaging - they are not dictated by advertising campaigns nor by the creative components of a marketing message. Brands exist in the minds of consumers and are reflective of their experience with your company or product. Branding is a form of psychological warfare – and the battle plan is comprised of a series of customer experiences and interactions with your organization.

One of the things that I believe makes my job as Vice President, Marketing here at iPerceptions easier, is that we have a group of individuals representing this company that whole-heartedly believe in our mission to democratize the voice of the customer, and to re-define market research. They are a young and eclectic group of people who are committed to making the iPSI (iPerceptions Satisfaction Index) the standard for measuring customer experience and satisfaction online.

I have never worked in a company that has more loyal and committed staff than we have here at iPerceptions. No matter which individual, no matter the department, no matter the level of access they have with the client, it is understood and respected across the organization that we are on a critical, timely and sensitive mission. Being committed to a company is one thing – the right human resource department coupled with the right compensation plan and work environment can attract and retain the right talent, but having staff truly embrace the core message that your company stands for...thats a whole other ball game...and it doesnt happen on its own. Yes...firstly, its about synchronizing the personality of the brand with the corporate culture and the company values. By aligning the criteria for recruiting and rewarding employees with the criteria of the brand value, we ensure allignment among marketing and human resources. Very important. But...when hiring, iPerceptions mainly looks for the right skills and aptitudes that will represent our brand promise effectively...its not just about what is written on someone's resume.

Consider that your staff meet, greet, and help your customers in many different ways. They are the face of your brand. They are your best salespeople and they are your marketing messengers. Having a team of dedicated individuals that help spread the gospel on a daily basis...makes for the start of a winning marketing strategy.

The x-men x-factor

If you've been following the newswire, you've probably seen that we've put out a press release formally announcing the founding members of our advisory council. We're extremely proud of the team we've assembled to help guide and nurture us. Each of our members is a recognized thought leader in his field. Their unique skill sets will help make it possible for us to mature our technology, refine our research methodologies, and grow the iPSI.

I'd like to talk briefly about the dynamic power players we've brought together. Bryan Eisenberg is a recognized worldwide as an expert in online marketing and marketing analytics. Avinash Kaushik is a published author and analytics evangelist, whose blog, Occam's Razor, is read by hundreds of decision makers every month. Mitch Joel is a renowned blogger,speaker, and communications visionary, who is highly active with the Canadian Marketing Association.

Continuing with this star-studded lineup, Alex Lowy is a sought-after strategist, who co-founded Digital 4Sight, a global technology think tank. Dr. Antonio Ciampi brings academic clout to our council; his post-graduate education includes both a Ph.D (Queen's University) and a Doctorate in Physics (University of Rome). Last, but certainly not least, is Nicholas Coutts, a leading routes to market specialist, who has helped many A-list clients maximize market share, profit, and brand objectives.

In a way, I (we) feel like a hockey general manager, who just finished signing six of the most talented and sought-after free agents available. We're really excited about our team, and we're sure that their insights will furnish us with huge competitive advantages moving forward.

Corporate America ... Are you listening?

You may not be listening to the voice of your customers...but the rest of the world is. I just saw this video on our friend Mitch Joel's blog - and just had to re-purpose it (thanks Mitch). In my opinion, Mitch said it all in this one simple sentence (and thus this will be short and sweet):

"I think the power in this video goes well beyond a lesson in customer service, but rather scratches at the very core of what Social Media is and how it will change how companies deal with their consumers."

Congratulations, you’re an idiot.

I am sitting on an airplane, returning from a four day trip to Internet Retailer in San Jose. The show was fantastic. There were companies ranging in size from retail start-ups to Fortune 500, all there to share their knowledge of the space and interact on a common interest. I really enjoy these shows. They are a great opportunity to see what’s going on in segments of the market that I don’t typically spend much time in. Because of the general nature of Internet Retailer, attendees are exposed to a variety of vendors and solutions, ranging from e-com providers, to analytics, to marketing solutions and more. It is a hodge-podge of internet applications and solutions…and I thoroughly enjoyed being there…and it didn’t hurt to be in Silicon Valley either. But that’s not really the point of this blog.

I, as I would assume most people on this plane are; am feeling quite tired. With a 7:00 AM departure, and airport congestion these days, it means for a four something in the morning wake up call to be at the airport two hours in advance. Throw into the mix a three hour time difference, an over crowded airplane, and people’s general stressful disposition when it comes to air travel…its no wonder federal authorities aren’t waiting at the gate more often on flight arrivals.

When the guy next to me sat down, I could instantly feel his stress. Everything seemed to be a problem. It started with his inability to find an overhead storage bin that would accommodate his oversized carry on, then it was about the seatbelt being tangled, and finally, he thought he was a getting a window seat (my seat), but it turned out to that he was sitting on the aisle – and was extremely unhappy about it…and was extremely vocal about it too. I personally, don’t do vocal at 7:00 AM.

Sitting two rows ahead of us was a woman with two children. One was just a baby, maybe a few months old at best; the other was a toddler (I would guess 3 years old). Both were adorable. After taking off, the 3 year old boy started to cry, and the crying intensified as we climbed. You could tell by the sound of the cry (I could tell by the sound of the cry – being a father myself of two young kids I know the different cries) that he was in pain. This was not a nagging cry. I could also tell that the guy next to me was not a parent. It was obvious that he was not appreciative of the boys loud crying. He started to get shifty in his seat. The more the crying continued, the shiftier he got…sighing loudly and huffing and puffing. Eventually, he started to complain out loud. Comments like “I need this at this hour of the morning?” and “Of all the places I have to sit”…. The woman two rows ahead could clearly hear him complaining and was trying desperately to soothe her child. She kept looking around and apologizing to the surrounding passengers. She was clearly uncomfortable with it as well. The more this went on, the worse I felt for her and the more I wanted to silence the angry man next to me trying to insight the mob. Eventually, he said “Would someone please shut that kid up”. I suppose it was at that point that the protective motherly instinct kicked in, and the mother left her son screaming in his seat and got up and walked over to the angry man and said “Listen, you idiot, my son is crying because he’s in pain. He is suffering from an ear infection and is just a little boy. I normally wouldn’t choose to fly on my own (she was holding back tears) with a baby and a three year old little boy with an ear infection, but my mother has recently died and I am on my way to her funeral so could you kindly shut up and deal with it because I am doing the best I can here!”

I wanted to applaud. I think the whole plane did.
These examples seem to follow me around – or maybe I am just more aware of the pitfalls of simply watching someone’s behavior and making assumptions, as a result of being in the attitudinal analytics space…but once again I saw anecdotally how just watching is not enough to understand the context of someone’s behavior.

All the angry man could do was sit there with this dumbfounded look on his face. He turned to me and said “I feel like an idiot”.

I responded with a simple “Congratulations”. Eventually the little boy cried himself to sleep.

Dog Walking - Understanding why – e-Metrics 2007

Alex was a great guy (is still a great guy - although we aren’t really in touch anymore), but was always a few sandwiches short of a picnic. Growing up, he lived with his family next to a beautiful park. The family had two dogs; a Doberman, and an Airedale Terrier. Being the only boy in a family of five children, it was his responsibility to walk the dogs every morning, and every day after school. I always found his patterns when walking the dogs very interesting. He would always take one dog at a time. Typically, he would start with the Doberman. He would walk the Doberman down the street, cross over, and walk back up the other side. He would then put the Doberman back in the house. Pick up the Airedale, and take the Airedale into the park. On occasion, he would reverse the order, and take the Airedale first into the park, and then come back and walk the Doberman down the street. The bottom line was that he never took the Doberman into the park, and never walked the Airedale down the street.

I’ve just come back from attending the e-Metrics summit in San Francisco. iPerceptions had a booth at the show, and I had the pleasure of speaking at one of the success tracks. Overall, it was a very successful trip.

The common theme, which kept coming up, whether it was over lunch with Bryan Eisenberg on Sunday, or during the keynote delivered by Jim Sterne, was that web analytics is evolving fast. The most important thing to understand of online behavior….is ‘why’. Without understanding ‘why’ a visitor or customer does or does not accomplish the purpose of their visit, we are only able to make assumptions.

That is why we believe (at iPerceptions) that the Holy Grail of web analytics is customer feedback. By leveraging voice of the customer research and open ended feedback, we are able to understand the context of people’s actions. Without it, we are simply ‘watching’ and cannot deduce with any level of certainty…’why’. If we truly want to get at the answers, we have to be willing to ask the questions.

At my ten year high school reunion – I finally asked Alex the question that had been on my mind forever. As much as I had drummed up possible reasons for the dog walking pattern , and as much as I knew Alex wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, I never would have known the real reason ‘why’ he behaved the way he did without coming straight out and asking him.

Turns out, the sign in the park that said “No Dogs Allowed”…was a picture of a Doberman Pincher.

Judging the 11th annual WebAward competition

New York, NY - May 14, 2007 - The Web Marketing Association is pleased to announce that Jonathan Levitt, Vice President, Marketing has been selected as a judge of the 11th annual international WebAward competition for Web site development.

Advertising is changing; there is no doubt about it

I recently got together with an old friend and colleague, and like we usually do when we sit down over a glass of wine or three – we began to talk about the passions we have in common; technology, advertising, consumption, engagement and the future of brand measurement.

He recently bought a personal video recorder, and was telling me (no I have not yet made the transition) how nice it is to finally be able to by-pass advertising.

A recent study by ad buyer Media Planning Group found that 90% of people with PVRs skip commercials in recorded programming — and just 16% watch the ads when viewing live TV, rather than doing something else or channel hopping.

Advertising is changing; there is no doubt about it. In large part I believe due to the advent of certain technologies giving us consumption alternatives, on-demand viewing, content slinging, and the basic nature of content sharing and the consumer generated content movement.

As a result of major changes in consumer viewing habits, advertisers and marketers are now faced with an onslaught of both new challenges and new opportunities. There are now a number of new ways to reach potential customers. We are already seeing a tremendous increase in television based product placement, in game advertising; even the emergence of alternate virtual worlds where avatar represented consumers are being flocked with advertising and product placement.

The issue is that these new advertising models are fairly new, and so measurement of success or failure is crucial, and as of now imprecise.

And here is where the need for real time customer feedback comes in. The entire principle behind what we are doing at iPerceptions is about continuously listening to real customers in the context of real experiences. We are re-defining market research…we are democratizing the voice of the customer. The very same technology which allows consumers to pick and choose the content they want, when they want it, and how they want to view it – can allow for an interactive conversation between brand and consumer.

I believe…that we are a handful of years away from a time where public opinion, voice of the customer and satisfaction and experience metrics will be captured (through different mediums) and analyzed in real time. Giving advertisers, marketers and decision makers alike the ability to consistently tap into the voice of the customer as a means of understanding and decision support.

Websites not living up to visitor’s expectations

Despite increased attention by many companies to their digital presence, a wide-ranging study has found that website development is not keeping pace with consumer expectations.

The Web Marketing Association had 300 industry experts examine over 2,400 websites, judging each on criteria ranging from design to copywriting to ease of use. As a whole, the resulting web development index declined 3 percent in 2006 from 2005.

"Judges' expectations and consumer expectations are outclimbing what web development has been doing," said Bill Rice, president of the group, which gives awards for the best websites.

One particular area of concern: innovation, which was rated lowest overall of the seven categories judged.

"Innovation is so hard to not only get but to keep," Rice said. "As soon as you have an innovation, everyone copies you and you're run of the mill again."

Of the 97 industries examined, the airline industry was seen as the most advanced in web development, which Rice chalks up to the Internet becoming a critical part of its business early. Within the airline industry, American Airlines was cited for its WhyYouFly.com site, created by Interpublic Group's TM Interactive, which not only lets customers book travel but helps them decide where to go.

I have been a judge for the Web Marketing Association going on five years now and I can personally say that expectations grow from one year to the next. As a judge, I expect companies to leverage technology in order to make their sites more appealing and current as a means of differentiation and branding....but...not at the cost of impacting the visitor experience. Remember, that these studies are judged by 'industry experts' and not actual visitors in the context of a real experience. While people want to the see the best use of the latest technology, and label that as innovation, it needs to be used as a means of enhancing the visitor experience in a way that empowers customers and visitors to accomplish their purpose on your site.

To see the winners from 2006, click here.

A new Intuitive approach to web analytics

Web analytics consultant Avinash Kaushik announced today on his Occam's Razor blog that he's leaving his position as director of Web research & analytics at Intuit to strike out on his own as an independent consultant. His first gig is as an "analytics evangelist" for Google, working with Google's marketing team on internal analytics, and with the Google Analytics team to spread the analytics gospel to the masses.

Is this another sign of Web analytics going mainstream?

Will we see a shift from pure hardcore web metrics to a more blended perspective of both behavioural and attitudinal analytics?

Avinash is a friend of mine and iPerceptions - and we wish him the best of luck in his new endeavours.

Art formerly known as prints

Being the proud father of a two and half year old boy, and now a one month old baby girl, one of the sites I have been frequenting these days is kodakgallery.com. I’m one of these fathers that is always with camera in hand, and subsequently uploading picture albums after picture album to share with family, friends, or anyone who shows a remote interest. I’ve been an avid amateur photographer for years, but only went digital about 4 years ago. Point being, I have hundreds if not thousands of photos sitting uncategorized in shoe boxes in my basement, that I know one day will either wither away and age, or get lost somewhere in the growing collection of ‘stuff’ that we seem to be accumulating.

On a recent visit to the easyshare gallery; I was impressed once again with Kodak’s way of remaining relevant in an industry that has changed so drastically over the past few years. This was a company that not only dominated, but practically monopolized the film industry for so many years, and somehow through pure perseverance and innovation has managed to avoid extinction and remain a brand we still associate and trust with our precious ‘memories’…even after their core product has become a thing of the past.

They are a brand and company I respect very much.

Kodak’s new Scan Van initiative is brilliant. Talk about event marketing at its finest. Stop at a Scan Van, give them your box of printed pictures, and have them scanned and digitized while you wait. Simple. Smart. Kodak Gallery wants to help make sure that your great grandchildren will see every single one of your pictures—including the ones that got their start as old-school film. How will they do this? They’ll bring them into the digital age at the Kodak Gallery Scan Van. By transforming your most beloved pictures into digital images, you’ll have them in a really perfect place. Stored as digital files, they’re safe from fire, flood and even forgetfulness. After the pictures are digitized, they’ll be uploaded to Kodak Gallery into your private account. Just like the pictures you take with your digital camera, you’ll be able to see them anytime you want.

Howard Firestone, iPerceptions’ Vice President Marketing recently sent me this great clip from Kodak – which was originally produced as an internal communications piece, but now seems to have found its way to the outside. It’s good for a laugh or two and also speaks volumes to the positioning of the Kodak brand as it moves into a digital age – and quite effectively in my opinion.

Google mixes up their holidays

Of course you’ve noticed that Google changes up their logo on a regular basis. Being the only graphical element on the page, it keeps things fun and whimsical too. I suppose when you have a brand as strong as the Google brand, you can be creative with minimal risk. Or can you?

Well…on Valentine’s Day, it seems someone at Google must have had their head in the clouds (maybe cloud nine)…don’t they know that no L is French for Christmas?

Google's official statement was the following:

"When you look at the logo, you may worry that we forgot our name overnight, skipped a letter, or have decided that "Googe" has a better ring to it. None of the above. I just know that those with true romance and poetry in their soul will see the subtlety immediately. And if you're feeling grouchy today, may I suggest eating a strawberry."

Right.

Mind the Gap Analysis

I thought it was very thought provoking when I read this Wall Street Journal clip in my inbox recently.

“Gap Inc. yesterday announced that former Disney executive Paul Pressler and its board had mutually agreed that he should step down as CEO, as well as resign his seat on the board of the San Francisco-based apparel retailer. The company said it would seek a retail expert to lead it. Pressler's emphasis on consumer research was considered well intentioned, but a deluge of data on Gap customers, competitors and consumer-spending hampered designers' creativity, according to one former Gap executive.” Read the whole story...

How can having a deluge of data on customers, competitors and consumer spending be referred to as “well intentioned”?

Robert Fisher, chairman of Gap Inc.’s board of directors, said, "… Under his leadership (Paul Pressler), the company has meaningfully improved its operations, strengthened its balance sheet, greatly enhanced its on-line presence across the brand portfolio and improved its standing as a global corporate citizen.”

Paul Pressler had this to say: “Gap Inc. is a company with tremendous potential and I wish all the employees much success in the years ahead.”

Clearly, we’re not getting the whole story…

I guess the question for me, is how was the data being used?

Capturing, and therefore having the data is important, but not nearly as important as the data analysis, even more important, the ability to create action as a result.

Is this a case of too much research, or not enough action? Or am I just talking out my gap?

Waiting for the other shoe to drop

Just when you thought that Zappos was the only one stop online shoe shop for all foot related needs, along comes a name we all know very well; Amazon. Surprise! Surprise! The retail giant has recently launched endless.com, their new (and quite nice) online shoe and handbag store (although still in beta).

The one thing Amazon knows is customer service – do you really need more selling points than this:

Free overnight shipping (really!)
Free return shipping
1 Year return policy
110% Price Guarantee

Between the recent launch of Gap’s new online store; piperlime.com and now Amazon’s endless.com, online shoe retailers have two new power houses to compete with. No doubt these new players are going to be stealing market share from Zappos and others, so all the more important that the voice of the customer be heard.

Online retailers have to understand that competition is a click away. Measuring and understanding the customer experience, knowing who your customers are and what they want from you along with what drives visitor satisfaction is all critical in order to stay one ‘step’ ahead.

The big Apple

Ok…so the whole world is talking about the iPhone. It's in the news, it’s on the radio, there are thousands of Blogs, with tens of thousands of people posting millions of comments and reviews about this new and incredibly innovative looking device. At a glance, very cool little gadget (if you can call it that), and being a technology chaser myself (I’ve now watched the product demo at least a half dozen times), I have already started to think about how I’m going to justify buying this little baby. But around the office, its not the iPhone were talking about … its Apple.

I can’t help but be amazed at the equity of the Apple brand. There are not many companies out there that can (out of nowhere) preview a product, and turn an entire consumer category on its ass overnight. Granted, a lot of credit has to be given to the viral impact of todays marketing channels, but to have the entire world anticipating this new phone with the type of intensity were seeing over the iPhone – one has to wonder…is there anything they can’t do?

iPod, iTunes, iPhone – what’s next?

Once again, Amazon is not afraid to listen

On a recent visit to amazon.com, I was pleased to see that once again, the online retailer is listening. They have now posted an online forum for customers and shoppers to enter into 'discussion' with each other. Amazon's Customer Vote program now offers a Customer Discussions area. There are currently over 1000 discussions taking place. Not at all of them reflect the Amazon brand in the most favorable light, but I dont think that really matters. Since the Thanksgiving day sell-outs on the site, plenty of people have quite a bit to say...and Amazon is providing the forum for them to do so. I for one have always been of the belief that I rather be aware of what people are saying about me, good or bad, then be ignorant. Discussions include everything from people talking about specific products, to people making offers to buy and sell sold out goods, to complaints, reviews, rants and more.

Its nice to see Amazon is not afraid to listen....good or bad. By providing a forum for customers to enter into dialog with one another, they not only show commitment to the voice of the customer, but a willingness to learn from it. Not surprising coming from Amazon.

One Dell of a good opportunity!

In case you aren’t up to speed with Second Life, wikipedia defines it as a privately owned, partly subscription-based 3-D virtual world, made publicly available in 2003 by San Francisco-based Linden Lab and founded by former RealNetworks CTO Philip Rosedale. The Second Life "world" resides in a large array of servers that are owned and maintained by Linden Lab, known collectively as "the grid". The Second Life client program provides its users (referred to as Residents) with tools to view and modify the Second Life world and participate in its virtual economy, which concurrently has begun to operate as a "real" market. At precisely 8:05:45 AM PDT, October 18, 2006, the population of Second Life hit 1 Million Residents, and today has upwards of 1.3 Million registered.

According to a recent article from AdWeek, Dell has joined the rush of advertisers to set up outposts in Second Life. A large factory, located on ‘Dell Island’ will serve as a store front for residents to customize and purchase Dell hardware and peripherals, and have them shipped directly to their first life (real life) doorsteps. The island will also feature a computer museum, a replica of Michael Dell’s college dorm room where he began piecing together computers under the Dell banner, and a large conference room, where Dell plans to hold focus groups with residents of Second Life.

In a press conference held by phone and on Dell Island, Philip Rosedale, Second Life's founder and CEO, said "You realize quite quickly you're involved in creation of a new world," he said. "The companies that have been coming into Second Life ... particularly the smart early companies are quite smart about that and contributing to the community."

Hats off to Dell for making this move. They are certainly a smart company…and I’m not just saying that because they are an iPerceptions client. Dell obviously believes in engaging its consumers into dialog that can help them better understand the voice of the customer. They’re doing it in the real world across all their customer touch points…and now they’re doing it in Second Life.

Hold on just a second

Ok...so up front warning...this won't be my most relevant or interesting blog post - but I needed to vent.

My wife and I recently sat down and started going over some personal expenses. Truth be told, I don’t pay the bills at home, my wife takes care of the banking (math isn’t my favorite subject). What spawned this exercise was that our contract with our current satellite supplier is about to expire, and so I wanted to shop around and see if there was a better way to go this time.

Vendor A is my current supplier – the only service I currently have with them is satellite.

Vendor B offers the same service, and is my current supplier for telephone / long distance and internet access.

I wanted to go with 1 supplier for all three services, so the shopping process began.

The market is extremely competitive. Both companies offer the same trio of services, and they are all priced relatively the same. So, how do I choose whether or not to switch two services over to Vendor A, or one service over to Vendor B? I decided that I would call both vendors, and see what each were willing to do for my exclusive account. I know that the strategy for both these companies is to ultimately provide all services to each of their clients. Like a bank, it becomes about share of wallet.

I started with Vendor A:
First, as I always do, I got online to see what info was available. The site was terrible in that not only could I not find the information I needed, but subsequently had a terrible time trying to get a phone number to call customer service. When I finally found a number – I waited 44 minutes on hold, and eventually hung up (but was reminded every 4 minutes on hold how important my call was). So I decided to send them an email. I received a reply within seconds. It was an automated response re-directing me to call the 800 number. No thank you!

I then moved on to Vendor B:
I got online, I found pricing for bundling all three services, and then I called them. The phone number for customer service was prevalent all over the site. I waited under a minute on hold (46 seconds). Very impressive.

Vendor A never stood a chance. They never even got to try and keep my business. For me, it was a no brainer. In the end, I pay a tiny bit more to move all services over to Vendor B, but I was so turned off by the difference in customer service, it became a decision of principle.

When customer service is all that separates you from your competitors, you better make sure you get it right.

Happy Anniversary to Me!

This week marks my one year anniversary with iPerceptions. Time sure does fly when you’re crazy busy. It’s been a great year. The company has gone through some major changes, both from a product perspective and growth perspective. We’ve doubled in size over the past twelve months, and plans for the next twelve months are extremely exciting.

Equally, the market has matured considerably, and therein lies the biggest change of all. Its amazing how awareness has grown exponentially over the past year, not only in terms of our own brand recognition, but for attitudinal analytics and voice of the customer research in general.

More and more, companies are realizing that capturing the voice of the customer on a consistent basis, and understanding customer satisfaction, is an invaluable form of research that needs to be integrated at all levels of decision making within the organizational structure.

Looking very forward to the next year(s).

Echoes of things that you said

I’m not referring to the Police song ‘Voices inside my head’…although there is definitely a play on concept here…It looks like big business is listening to the millions of voices out there who have had enough with poor standards in customer service at the phone support level.

A while back, I wrote a blog about Paul English, and his consumer movement ‘Get Human’, a new website that provides secret phone numbers and cheat codes to reach a human operator when calling a company for customer service.

Paul English, in his keynote address at the recent SpeechTEK conference in NY, announced that his group, along with Microsoft, Nuance, and other industry leaders / giants are now working together to create a set of standards designed to eliminate poor caller experiences with automated phone systems.

"Consumers have put up with bad customer service over the phone for too long, and this new initiative will put some sanity back into how companies interact with their customers…” English said.

According to Opinion Research Corp. nearly seven out of 10 consumers say they are less likely to do business with a company after a bad call center experience.

It’s great to see two things happening here:

1) Standards are being developed to measure, monitor and index customer satisfaction and experience. Naturally this speaks volumes to what we at iPerceptions are doing in the web space.

2) Voice of the customer is becoming harder and harder to ignore. If you don’t ensure a positive customer experience, your brand is most definitely going to suffer. Just ask the now over 475 companies in the Get Human database. And if they aren’t convinced on the importance of listening to the voice of the customer, you could always ask the millions of people who put them there.

CBS to Use Bluetooth to Beam TV Clips

Well we knew the time was coming. People have been talking for a while now about advertising jumping from offline channels into digital devices (literally). The line between traditional and digital advertising is getting finer and finer, and the abilities to reach cross platform audiences becoming more and more interesting.

A recent article on E-Commerce Times explains how “CBS will use Bluetooth technology to promote its upcoming fall lineup. Starting in September, billboards located in New York City's Grand Central Station will feature an invitation for commuters with compatible mobile devices to link up with the advertisements. CBS said it was the first known use of the technology by a TV network.”

"The ability to extend a brand's message from the static two-dimensional poster to an audiovisual clip on a cell phone provides endless opportunities for out-of-home advertisers to extend their message," said Jodi Senese, executive VP of marketing for CBS Outdoor. Such a preview of coming TV shows is a "tailor-made application for this technology," Senese added.

Like Jodi said, endless opportunities….Throw in the ability to tag (or cookie) people when they download clips, and on future parades through the train station, send relevant cross promotions, discounts, coupons etc….you have yourself a new dynamic advertising chanel. Once a relationship is established between the brand and my portable device, there are a number of opportunities for dialog…and for me, that’s where it gets really interesting.

Imagine the following; I’m walking through Grand Central Station, I opt in to receive a preview of this new show ‘The Class’. The system cookies me, sends me the file, and on future passes by this billboard, I can now be offered content directly related to the show. Movie billboards can beam merchandising discounts. Retailers can offer up incentives to shop at the store level or coupons for online redemption. Dynamic targeting can now be taken offline, and integrated with the rest of the world.

For anyone who ever watched the Tom Cruise movie "Minority Report" - things are starting to look a lot more like they do in the future.

Very cool stuff. Kudos to CBS for thinking outside the digital box.

You can’t only focus on the focus group

When it comes to making solid marketing and product decisions, I am not a believer of the focus group as a stand alone research tool. There are several reasons why I feel this way, but for the most part, it comes down to this:

Many companies make the mistake of trying to use focus groups as a definitive and predictive tool. I was speaking to a prospect recently that passed on our solution and explained that he could obtain really good research through his focus group on what people wanted to see from their new online initiative.

Aiiiiiiiiinnnnnnn (the sound of a buzzer).

The focus group in nature scares me as a sole means for decision support. We know for certain that people become substantially more conservative when put in a group context, more so when being asked about wants or needs. I am always skeptical of the existence of peer pressure and conformity in a group environment.

My feeling is that you get much better results talking to customers on an individual basis, in the comfort of their own brain.

A focus group can give you an indication of the perceptions of an existing brand, or known product. They also may help you indicate glaring problems in usability or the customer experience, but in no way can a focus group provide definitive quantitative statistically sound research.

Agree? Not? Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions.

American Apparel opens a store in Second Life

American Apparel recently announced the opening of a new store. All items are for sale for only $1.00 (or less) – does it seem out of this world? It is. The boutique is opening in avatar based ‘Second Life’, a thriving gaming community where people can create digital alter egos and pay real cash for virtual goods.

American Apparel is the first major retailer to set up shop in Second Life, and since the store opened on June 17th, they have sold "about 2,000 items" for $1 or less, says Raz Schionning, the company's director of Web services.
Customers can dress their online avatars with digital renderings of slim-cut T's and dresses modeled after real-life merchandise.

According to a recent article in Business Week; American Apparel will soon “start hiring virtual sales clerks from among Second Life's citizens. And he (Raz Schionning) says the company will introduce 10 new merchandise items in July, beyond the 20 styles that are currently offered. The company is also planning to test-market its first line of jeans within its Second Life store this summer—two months before they hit physical stores in time for fall.”

Who knows whether or not this will prove to be a good move for American Apparel? I can’t see the harm. They are exposing the brand to a flocking slew of Second Life inhabitants, in an effort to not only open a new revenue stream (granted at 1 buck or less per item it certainly wont be a cash cow), but also drive traffic to its online and offline ‘First Life / Real Life’ stores. With every purchase of ‘avatar apparel’, the company is giving away a 15% coupon for redemption at the store level.

More and more we are seeing marketers adding new tools to the marketing toolbox. It’s exciting to watch as more and more companies clamor to find new ways of reaching their audience.

Howard Firestone (Our V.P. Marketing) and I were just discussing this move by American Apparel. Our thoughts; maybe we should open a research company in Second Life. Capturing the voice of the Second Life customer is naturally as important as capturing the voice of real life customers.

You and I were meant to fly – or were we…

It all started on Wednesday afternoon, when I received an email from Airline A suggesting I check-in online for my flight the following morning (yesterday) to Toronto:

From their email: “Web Check-in is available whether you are have bags to check or are travelling light.” (Think someone at Airline A needs a course in spelling and grammar?) Come on people…you’re sending out an email to thousands of customers every day – proof read!

I travel a fair bit, but have never used the online check in system for whatever reason….so I thought I would give it a shot. Easy. Simple. Incredibly convenient. Within two minutes, I had my boarding card printed and was ready to fly. The next morning, boarding card in hand, I went right to security and through to the gate. It was a breeze.

It was in reality – the calm before the storm.

You see, because I had checked in online, I didn’t have to deal with any humans from Airline A the following morning at the airport. Which is why I didn’t find out until 5 minutes before the flight was supposed to begin boarding that it had been cancelled (the boards indicated no change in schedule, and apparently it was cancelled the previous night at 2am due to projected weather conditions).

This was my initial thought: You have my email address on file. You sent me an email the day before asking me to check in online, why not send me an email that the flight was cancelled? It just seems to make sense. If you are using the web as an interactive self serve channel, then use it properly. Use it in a way that benefits both your company and the customer. We all know that online check in is as much a cost saving tool for the airline as it is a value add convenience to travelers. Clearly the lack of communicating other important messages is an indication of which matters most (the airlines ability to save money).

Simply measuring customer satisfaction is not enough

Howard Firestone, Our V.P. Marketing and Communications posted a blog a while back Peppers & Rogers: They get it! … And he is right… they do get it!

A recent article, Customer Satisfaction Now, Long-term Value Later written by Don Peppers, explains how measuring customer satisfaction on its own is not an indicator of how well a company is doing in building brand affinity and the lifetime value of its customers. Peppers explains:

“Look at the latest iteration of the American Consumer Satisfaction Index for example, administered quarterly by the University of Michigan business school. It is a well-researched and useful bellwether for consumer attitudes. However, it cannot by itself be taken as a predictive customer value model.”

We couldn’t agree more. That’s why it is so important to contextualize results found in customer satisfaction research. It is equally important to look at how willing customers are to recommend your brand and product, your company’s share of customer, and their lifetime value. These are the elements that show true customer focus. The ACSI index is a good metric in terms of understanding current customer sentiment, but is only one of many indicators.

Relying on overall customer satisfaction scores (or what we at iPerceptions call our Visitor Value Index) is only part of the equation. It’s important to understand the other elements as well that make up a person's experience with your company and brand, by listening to the voice of your customers on a consistent basis, and understanding the different voices coming from the crowd.

For example, a high profile lingerie company we work with found that an overall low satisfaction score on their website was the result of mainly low scores within one visitor group for the attributes related to the area of content (pictures, detail, and relevancy). Further investigation revealed that this group, when segmented from the rest of the respondents, were men between the ages of 18 and 35. The point is that if this client only looked at overall satisfaction as a measure to drive improvement, they would have been applying strategies based on the perceptions of guys who wanted to see bigger pictures of bigger….

Understand how many voices are coming from the crowd.
Understand the relevance of these various voices.
Understand the impact they are having on your goals and objectives.
Understand that overall satisfaction is only showing you part of the picture.

Internet Retailer 2006 – Customer experience is everything

I’m sitting in the airport in Chicago (I love Chicago, its one of my favorite cities, but truth be told I have a real hatred for their airport) on my way home from the Internet Retailer Conference. It was an intense couple of days, with a star studded lineup of speakers including people like Seth Radwell (scholastic.com), Lisa Dyson (Famous Footwear), Lynnette Montgomery (Levenger), John Bresee (backcountry.com), Lauren Freedman (the e-tailing group), Noah Maffitt (Office Depot) and Howard Tong (newegg.com) - Some very impressive people, driving strategy at some very impressive companies. All progressive individuals, all leaders in their own way…all sending the same underlying message: The Customer Experience is everything!

They all spoke from the perspective of their own discipline, but the bottom line kept coming back to the same thing; the customer experience has to come first. Whether it comes down to rich media, community, customization and personalization or globalization, all efforts point back to one main important criterion – customer experience is king. If you do not put the customer experience at the for-front of your strategic development efforts, then you will likely not be putting the most important element of success first.

That’s where proper analytics come in. If you aren’t able to properly measure the customer experience online, then you are probably not truly reacting to the needs of your visitors. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the customer experience, with precise and consistent measurement, is the key to making sure your developments efforts are having a positive impact on customer satisfaction.

In short: Measuring and understanding the experience is as critical as creating the experience in the first place.

Don’t take my word for it – ask Avinash

As I typed that title, I realized what a nice ring that has to it…’Ask Avinash’. Hey Avinash, I want royalties if ever you market an ‘Ask Avinash’ site or service to the analyst or marketing community (I’m kidding – mostly). But seriously, it’s always nice to have elements of your methodology confirmed (see his Disclaimers & Disclosures) by someone who is ‘in the trenches’.

Avinash Kaushik works at Intuit, and is responsible for the business, technical and strategic elements of the Web Research & Analytics platform that supports decision making for Intuit’s 40+ ecommerce and non-ecommerce websites. He clearly is someone who understands the web analytics space, and more important the limitations of single solution toolkits.

Avinash recently posted a blog on his site – Occam’s Razor - titled Got Surveys? Recommendations from the Trenches that highlighted some very important issues about the importance of a sound methodology and proper solicitation for feedback when it comes to using the voice of the customer as decision support.

Two key issues he brought up that I wanted to point out (verbatim):

1) If possible partner with an outside company that can bring a full complement of expertise to the table. This has two great benefits:

You have to do less work, can’t beat that. Seriously though, you don’t have to create questions, you don’t have to master complex computations (often advanced statistics), you can benefit from best practices and all you have to bring to the table is your knowledge of your business.

You can stay focused on value add analysis rather than in distracting and time consuming tactical work.

2) Most surveys are done as a pulse read, we have a thought in mind, a question we want answered, a project we are doing and we do a survey. That is great. But surveys can be hugely powerful as a continuous and ongoing measurement system. Having surveys continuously deployed on your website will mean that you will always have your finger on the pulse of your visitors. More importantly it will mean that you can account for seasonality, external influences (like press releases or company events), marketing campaigns, God’s power etc.

This ties directly into a blog post from our own Duff Anderson - Voice of the customer – spring, summer, fall, winter, and spring…

Like I said, it’s always nice to have elements of your methodology confirmed by someone who is ‘in the trenches’.

IPod Compatible Sneakers From Apple And Nike - Talk about Convergence

So what do you get when two of the hottest brands in the world join forces? According to the Cult of Mac, It's a global mega-brand mashup! This is no ordinary cross promotion, Apple and Nike have teamed up and integrated product functionality in order to offer consumers a new 'experience'...and I think its brilliant!

The Nike+iPod cross promotion encourages runners to buy a new pair of Nike+ sneakers, which have a little pocket for a wireless sensor. The wireless sensor is part of a $30 Nike+iPod Sport Kit from Apple, which is expected to ship within 60 days (maybe a little late out of the gate considering summer will likely be wrapping up, and now is when people are looking to shed those extra winter pounds).

The Nike+iPod Sport Kit also includes a small receiver that plugs into the dock connector on the bottom of the iPod. Out on the road, the sensor sends data about time, distance, and pace to the iPod, which provides unspecified "workout-based voice feedback" while you run. Presumably, it's encouraging.

Back at home, the iPod uploads the exercise data to the Mac or PC, and syncs with iTunes and the NikePlus website which records runs and sets goals. In addition, the site will allow runners to challenge each other to "virtual races" and download time- or distance-based workout routines. It will also offer sporty iMixes "chosen and introduced by top athletes."

Pretty cool stuff. Maybe a little more gimicky than functional - but nonetheless, this kind of product partnering and integration is something we will only see more of over time. I believe in the not too distant future, most of our products will communicate with one another in an effort to make our lives better and easier. Our clothing might have small micro chips that communicate wash instructions to the washing machine. Our mustard jar may tell our frigidaire that it is almost empty, at which point our frigidaire might hop online and order more Grey Poupon. As technology evolves, it is my opinion that we will get closer and closer to this kind of convergence. Like I said...pretty cool stuff.

Gotta run!

Blog Shmog – What the $%# are we all REALLY talking about?

I remember back in the days (when I used to walk to school uphill, barefoot, in the winter with 800 lbs of books strapped to my back) when the web was born – and the world was all about getting online. Connectivity and penetration rates were being monitored and reported weekly. People were buying up domain names like insane crack junkies. (I was one of them – registering any word or combination of words I could think of that might one day be valuable to someone or some organization). Websites were being developed and deployed at lighting speed. It was the gold rush. It was flying by the seat of our pants madness and it was a blast. But we were making it all up as we went along. It didn’t matter that nobody had a real strategy in mind. People had no clue what to do with this new media / new medium. Companies were putting up websites simply because they were told they had to. It was the “in” thing to do. What? Your company doesn’t have a website? Here’s my dot com. What’s your dot com? Do you have a dot com? Email me. Email me at my dot com. Fax machine? You’re still using a fax machine?

And then eventually…many broken or non existent business models and stock crashes later – we started to figure it out. We realized that putting up a site for the sake of it – was simply self indulgent and not worth all that much.

We’ve come full circle with blogs. I was at a trade show yesterday and over-heard two women talking at the table next to me. The conversation went something like this:

“What are you up to later?”
“I’m going to go back to the hotel room – and blog”
“What are you going to blog about?”
“I’m not sure yet…I’ll think of something”
“Yah I know what you mean – its hard to always come up with something to blog about”
“Yah”
“Yah”
“Do you have a blog?”
“No…but I should get one…”

So here’s the question – does anybody really care? For real...do you?

Let’s give them something to blog about – Paino attention

Here’s my guess: A bunch of ad agency guys (Warren Kremer Paino Advertising) are sitting around a boardroom table and wondering how to get their agency on the map. They clearly ruled out the traditional ways of growing a business and building awareness, like a strong portfolio, client referrals etc…, so instead they try and come up with something completely ridiculous.

According to a recent article on www.boston.com - Blogger who criticized Maine tourism office faces lawsuit, the agency is suing a man by the name of Lance Dutson of Searsmont, Maine, for his having defamed the agencies work on his blog www.mainewebreport.com.

I’ll let you read the article and judge for yourself, but essentially, Dutson criticized the agency's work on his blog and the agency didn’t like it very much…what was he thinking? How could he do that (extreme sarcasm in case that didn't translate in type)?

''I'm basically a freelance Web designer," he said. ''I have three kids. We're just a dead-middle-of-the-road Maine family. If they succeed in this, it'll ruin us. I can't write that kind of a check."

I have two sets of two words for Warren Kremer Paino Advertising:

1) Free Speech
2) Grow up

According to the article: “Other bloggers have rushed to Dutson's defense, portraying the matter as a clear-cut free speech and First Amendment issue. ''This is a deep-pocketed litigator trying to stop a small media outlet, a blog, for saying things that they don't like," said Robert A. Cox, a New Rochelle, N.Y., blogger and cofounder of the Media Bloggers Association.

I’ll bet clients are going to be running to engage this agency – after all what better a source for creative output than insecure ad guys. At least they stand by their work I suppose.

Doesn't the whole thing seem a little strange to you? Has the web not yet been recognized as a platform for freedom of expression? People have choices and voices. Let them decide what they like and don't like, and let them be heard. I can’t wrap my head around this one…So I ask: is this for real? Or was the legal cost to file suit against Lance Dutson a marketing expenditure gone bad?

Either way, I hope the guys at Warren Kremer Paino Advertising don't read this blog…I would not want to get sued.

Amazon rides the consumer generated content crazy train

In keeping with the recent CGC (Consumer generated content) craze, Amazon.com has turned to its community to provide decision support for other shoppers. Their new initiative allows people to upload their own customer images.

What are customer images? Your pictures of products in action, with captions - photos of product features ('see the simple controls on this music player'), products in use ('here's how to install the ink cartridge'), product performance ('this camera's macro mode is incredibly sharp') - anything you can imagine to help other shoppers learn about the product!

Sometimes product descriptions and manufacturer supplied images are not enough. Here's your chance to help millions of fellow customers learn more about how a product looks, behaves and performs. Think of customer uploaded image as reviews in pictures.

So what do I think? (Thanks for asking!)

I think it’s a brilliant use of consumer generated content. It gets Amazonians further involved, customers further informed, and relieves the folks at Amazon from a huge amount of work.

Let’s just hope that nobody uploads images of themselves doing bad things in a Chevy Tahoe.

Tommy can you hear me? Customer service at Tommy.com

The answer is a definite YES!

It’s early Sunday morning (about 7:45 am), and my son and I are watching the Wiggles (for the third time this morning). With lots on my mind, and a to-do list that is growing out of control (We are moving in a month), I decide to try and get some stuff done before the day really starts...My wife has been talking to me about a duvet cover she saw for my son at tommy.com (we are going to be transitioning him into a ‘big boy’ bed), so I decided to check it out.

I was really impressed with the site. Its well designed, simple to navigate, and in my opinion well thought out…the fact is that at this hour of a Sunday morning, It was nice to not have to start guessing my way around…They really make it easy. Despite the depth of the information available, I had some questions about shipping that weren’t covered in their faq, so I thought I’d call customer service. I was amazed that someone actually answered – and right away for that matter. Not only was customer service open at 8:00 am on a Sunday morning, but I don’t think I have ever spoken to someone more helpful or knowledgeable about their product. This customer service rep was incredibly friendly (again note the time of day), very informed and even had some advice for me on how to transition my son properly (she’s a mom – clearly).

Overall, I was very impressed. As a consumer, I tend to be a little demanding, and when dealing with customer service, I expect what the words depict, customer service. Tommy has really put together the right components of a good customer experience. Here is a brand that in my opinion has listened to the voice of the customer and made certain that their touch points address what is important to shoppers. Much to my liking – which is more than I can say for the duvet cover…sorry sweetheart.

Brand strategy or brand suicide?

I recently posted a blog about Proctor and Gamble, and their Old Spice campaign to engage customers, by allowing people to create their own Old Spice commercials. This type of customer generated content is becoming all the rage on the web today. We’ve seen similar campaigns by MasterCard, Jet Blue, and recently Chevy. I applaud these brands for giving up some control – but there has to be a line drawn in the marketing sand as to just how much control to give up. When you give technology savvy, virally connected consumers the ability to step outside the brand box, you open yourself up for some associations you might not want.

It’s a good idea to think twice about the amount of creative power you give to consumers. As we’ve seen over the past couple of days, Chevy is paying a price for the amount of creative control it decided to give up.

Autoblog - A blog covering the auto industry with test drives and commentary on articles from other sites, posted an article about the campaign's results, along with some of the customer created commercials.

Brand Strategy or Brand Suicide? You decide.

The Wisdom of Crowds - The technology behind Google

I should tell you up front before you invest time in this blog post, that the bulk of what you are about to read has absolutely nothing to do with attitudinal analytics, the voice of the customer, online research or customer service. It is for the most part, about a link sent to me by a colleague. He and I have been going back and forth via email, discussing a book we both just finished by New Yorker Columnist James Surowiecki called The Wisdom of Crowds. I won’t get into a whole book review here (although I will recommend it as a great and fascinating read). The subtitle: Why the Many Are Smarter Than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economies, Societies and Nations, pretty much explains the concept of Surowiecki’s book.

To add some further context, Sam Sheikh on his ‘Management Speak’ blog writes:

"…He cites (refering to James Surowiecki) numerous instances where many discrete decisions and inputs can create a whole that is far more accurate or powerful than anything created by just a few decisions and inputs. The stock market is an example, where the mind-boggling number of decisions and inputs intersect to create essentially a gigantic repository of knowledge. Google, of course, works on a similar principle, where the data gathered from the decisions of large numbers of people help determine search rankings. And Google's success analyzing the decisions of many people fuels its continued use…”

So where is this all going?
This colleague of mine and I were talking about the Google analogy above.
On Saturday, April 1, 2006, he sent me this link - The technology behind Google's great results.

I hadn’t seen it before, and thought I would share it. Be reminded please of my disclaimer above, and for the sake of my reputation, I will also say that after the few first paragraphs, I realized what day it was.

Customer engagement – spicing things up

I recently stumbled on the www.whensheshot.com website. A new site launched by Proctor & Gamble for their Old Spice brand. The site basically allows customers to create their own advertisement. Visitors have the ability to pick their own video clips, choose their soundtracks and mix and match scratches and beats to build a custom commercial. I have one word…Spicy!

As far back as I can remember I have always associated Old Spice with the smell of my grandfather. Not anymore. I now associate Old Spice with other things. Better things. Things you could only understand if you visited the site or have seen the directors cut of this commercial on television (which you can watch on the site).

This kind of customer engagement is in my opinion very powerful. The site was fun and engaging (in fact I spent more time than I should have creating my masterpiece). Not only did P&G manage to place themselves on my brand radar screen, but they have managed to completely transform my association of their product. The site allows visitors to get creative, yet Old Spice naturally controls the content of the commercials, by only allowing you to choose from the video clips they provide – which are naturally the elements they want customers associating to the Old Spice brand…excellent product marketing. Not to mention the fact that I sent out the link to my poker buddies, the guys on my hockey team and a handful of others I thought might enjoy being director for a few moments.

Get your customer involved. Engage them. Allow them to interact with your brand. They are your best marketers.

What surprised me was that P&G was not collecting any feedback from visitors. Here I was, completely engaged, at their data mercy, and I was not asked any questions about myself, or the impact this interactive campaign was having on my perception of the brand or my purchase intent down the road. I would have certainly been willing to provide some information. I have no doubt that the viral marketing this campaign will achieve will be great, but I cant help but think there may be a missed opportunity here for collecting some real good information from users.

I will be calling Procter and Gamble today.

You can see my commercial by clicking here.

Customer service and the bottom line

I recently had the pleasure of attending The Power Within event in Montreal (Thanks to a generous colleague who had an extra ticket – thanks again Michael). It was quite the experience. Speakers included William Jefferson Clinton, Lance Armstrong, Stephen J. Dubner, Peter Guber, Loretta LaRoche, Mary Lou Quinlan and Chuck Martin of NFI Research.

NFI Research is a U.S.-based research firm that identifies and analyzes trends and attitudes in business, organizational management and information technology.

I thought Chuck gave a great presentation – and being in the research space, I am always interested in contributing data points. After hearing Chuck speak, I decided to become a member of the Net Future Institute.

Their recent study, just wrapped up, and I wanted to share these figures (after getting Chuck’s permission of course)…I found them quite interesting.

When senior executives and managers are asked what their department and/or organization most highly value, customer service (65%), bottom line (63%) and customer relations (57%) are noted the most. When asked in which of the same areas do they provide the highest value, customer service (58%), customer relations (50%) and creativity/new ideas (50%) are the top three choices.

Although customer service, customer relations and bottom line are perceived as the most highly valued by an organization, they are not as frequently the areas in which executives and managers say they provide the highest value.

Nine percent more managers than senior executives perceive that their organization values the bottom line.

I thought this was especially interesting. The importance of listening to the voice of the customer may exist at the upper strategic levels of an organization, but are not necessarily being communicated lower down as important strategies for success. And as the organizations become larger, apparently communicating this message becomes more difficult.

The larger the company the more executives and managers say their organization value the bottom line, nearly 40 percent more frequently.

You've GOT to be kidding!

Why do we listen? Because diversity of opinion, splintering markets and consumer empowerment are the reality in today's competitive market place. That’s why listening solutions are finding their way into the tool kits of successful marketers. Long gone are the days when marketers could force feed their desired agendas onto consumers, and still be successful.

The truth is that this strategy of listening needs to come from the top...and this reality pervades internally and externally in only the most progressive companies. Successful companies employ this strategy not only to the voice of customers but to the internal voices in and around their organizations as well.

On that note...a story from the field:

Yesterday I made a presentation to a prospect. Let me assure you that there was no hidden camera in the room and I was not the unknowing participant on a candid camera type show (although I was certain at the time I was). I’m afraid this story is true.

The client I was presenting to caught a glimpse of the above picture on my desktop as I loaded my Power Point Presentation. This is my son, of whom I am naturally very proud, and this picture puts a smile on my face every time I look at it. Needless to say, the client didn’t appreciate it at all. In fact, she was offended that I did not have a company logo on the desktop, or even a blank desktop, but rather that I would assume the right to personalize my workspace and impose on people elements of my personal life.

“What makes you think people want to see an image of your kid?” She asked me.
I was shocked.

Her single comment was not enough. She went on to tell me that she felt it was unprofessional for someone in business development to push his personal life on people in this manner.

“I would never let my salespeople run around with pictures of last weeks Beer Party on their desktop”. She went on to say.

My question is this: How did she know that just below the crop line of the above picture – my 22 month old son is holding a beer?

No surprise, this prospect was not interested in listening to her customers...like I said…it comes from the top.

What’s on your desktop?

Slip through the corporate cracks with Paul English

Tired of waiting on the phone forever when calling a customer service number?
Have a hard time believing recorded messages like "Your call is very important to us" only to have it followed with "Due to high call volume, we anticipate your wait to be...107,000 minutes"?

An article recently published in the New York Times – Your call should be important to us, but it’s not is pointing consumers to a new website launched by Paul English, CTO of Kayak.com that helps aggravated customers find the cracks in the corporate customer service system.

The article states:

"It would be funny if it weren't so depressing — and such bad business. Countless chief executives pledge to improve their company's products and services by listening to the "voice of the customer." Memo to the corner office: Answer the phone!...”

Essentially, the website provides secret phone numbers and codes to get to a human when calling a company for customer service.

There’s a cute little promo video I’m sure we can all relate to on the Google Video beta site.

Worth having a look at…

If you can in fact relate, join the get human consumer movement. Apparently over 1 Million consumers have already accessed the cheat list.

I’m one of them.

The voice of the customer exists

Why is change so difficult, and what are we so afraid of? And why is this mentality so prevalent in Canadian retailers?

For the sake of this post we will refer to one company in particular as ‘Acme', and for the sake of context, it’s important to understand that we are talking about one of the country’s biggest retail players. With seven major brands, and close to 1000 retail locations across the country, Acme today is doing over 1 billion in revenue and trades publicly. This is no small business.

By the way…Acme is also one of the country’s only big retail players that has yet to adopt e-commerce as a transactional channel. Don’t ask why, I have been trying to figure it out for years.

This is a company that freely admits they have been un-able to properly gauge the impact e-commerce would have on their bottom line.

When in the course of making a presentation, I suggested that we examine their visitor’s interest in e-commerce, the management team at Acme decided they did not want to ask customers whether or not they would like to shop online because management was quite certain now (as opposed to over the past several years) that the feedback would be an overwhelming ‘YES’.

“So what’s the problem?” I asked. “If it turns out that the majority of your visitors tell you that they want to buy online, then you have your answer. Give the people what they want…no?” Seems like smart business to me.

“We’re just not ready” said a senior executive at Acme. “If we ask the question, and get back the results we think we’ll get, and don’t deliver, we will really hurt the brand”.

The reality is the voice of the customer exists even if you choose not to listen to it. Brands don’t exist on store shelves, or in television commercials. They don’t exist in print advertising or in websites or in product packaging for that matter. Brands exist in the minds of consumers. They are based on how people experience your company and your product.

Here’s the magic question;

If a tree falls in the forest…and there is nobody there to hear it, does it still make a sound?

I personally believe it does.

Our lives have changed forever

I have been working in the online space since the commercialization of the internet. I have watched the web develop from a mainly marketing based arena, to a viable business channel that today represents a significant portion of our economy. I have had the pleasure of watching as this platform for business has moved from an 'under construction" phase, to a client focused, customer driven, content rich competitive landscape.

In 1997, a partner and I started a web development company called Media Factory. We were selling way ahead of the curve – building first and second generation websites for companies looking to leverage an online presence. At the time, neither companies nor consumers were truly ready for e-commerce, so our approach was to use the web not only as a means to market and brand, but equally important as a way to better understand customers. Our sites were conceptually ahead of their time – being built to capture as much data as possible on users and their online behavior, in order to build demographic and psychographic behavioral databases. Better understanding who was coming to your site, allowed our clients to better serve small, but important online customer groups.

Back then, clients never really understood the power of this approach. They knew they were online for a reason, they equally knew that the data they were capturing was incredibly important. They just didn’t know what to do with it. As CRM became more and more accepted at the corporate level, they finally began to understand the importance of tracking, profiling and understanding how people were behaving online.

What a ride it's been so far, and I believe we are just pulling out of the station.